Ben Crenshaw, a World Golf Hall of Famer and Austin native, calls himself just one of the many "sentimental golfers" supporting an effort to "Save Muny."

Lions Municipal Golf Course, affectionately known as Muny, is located on the west side of the city on land given to the University of Texas in 1910 by then-Regent George Washington Brackenridge. Muny is where Crenshaw scored his first hole-in-one – "with my mom's Patty Berg 5-iron," he said – earned his first trophy and later won the Firecracker Open, Austin's longest-running amateur championship, twice.

The course was constructed by the Lions Club and opened to the public in 1924. In 1951, it became the first desegregated golf course in the South when it adopted a policy that anyone could play there.

Last year, a man I called The Anonymous Gambler said one of his sleeper picks to win the Masters “was the best player in the world whose name rhymes with skillet.”

Since he nailed it and Danny Willett did, indeed, win the Masters, I asked him to return for an encore wagering preview. He agreed on the condition of anonymity and the promise to swear in court, if it comes up, that he died in a fiery 2012 car crash in New Mexico.

I appreciated your post about weather predictions (“Don’t let weather odds cloud a good golf day,” March 23, bit.ly/2ntesDY). I have been beating that drum for a decade. I probably get 20 rounds a year in on days that there is bad weather predicted but that never happens.

Kevin Hefner
Springfield, Ill.

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Keeping score

2

Number of Americans tied for the lead after the first round of the LPGA’s Kia Classic. Cristie Kerr and Mo Martin shot 6-under 66s Thursday to set the pace with South Korean In Gee Chun at Aviara Golf Club in Carlsbad, Calif. Kerr, whose 18 LPGA victories include two major championships, has not won since 2015. Martin’s lone victory was the 2014 Women’s British Open.

5

Number of days after PGA Tour rookie Trey Mullinax married his high school sweetheart that he shot a bogey-free 9-under 63 to take the first-round lead Thursday in the Puerto Rico Open. Mullinax and his bride, Abi Essman, might want to temper any thoughts about spending the $540,000 winner’s share just yet. The first-round leader has won only four of 18 times on Tour this season. The most recent: Justin Thomas, Mullinax’s former teammate at Alabama, at the Sony Open in Hawaii. But, hey, it’s a fantastic start regardless for the newlyweds.

26

Total number of holes that Brooks Koepka has played in two matches in the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play. Koepka defeated Jason Dufner, 6 and 5, on Thursday, the same score by which Koepka beat Kevin Kisner a day earlier. Koepka has made 12 birdies in 26 holes at Austin (Texas) Country Club. He faces Patrick Reed today.

29

Number of days since Nate Lashley underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee. After three weeks of rehabilitation in which he did not play or practice, Lashley shot 9-under 62 Thursday to take the first-round lead in the Web.com Tour’s Chitimacha Louisiana Open.

-5.9

The percentage rate of contraction in the number of golf courses in the U.S. from 2006 to 2016, according to a National Golf Foundation study. Last year, 211.5 courses closed compared with 15.5 that opened. Contrast that recent trend with 1986-2005, when the U.S. course supply expanded by 44 percent. In the past decade, $3 billion has been spent on major course renovations, the NGF disclosed.

From the industry

Reynolds Lake Oconee is offering new packages of golf vacations, for the single, couple or group of players. The packages include a variety of golf and accommodation options for visitors to the Greensboro, Ga., resort.